How to Make a Board Game: Card Creation

Last week Keyan had some great tips on how to create a cohesive rulebook. For us, the rules were the biggest creative roadblock. We knew how to play the game, but how do you write it comprehensively enough for someone who knows nothing about the game will understand? Luckily with a lot of rulebook research and a lot of board game playthroughs (it’s work I promise), we overcame that hurdle. But our very first roadblock, is a similar one that a lot of first-time game designers are facing – I have an idea for a card game now what?

I have my Board / Card game idea. Now what?

“Card Bard get it? It’s a pun of Cardboard”. That is how keyan pitched is board game to me, and instantly I could envision everything it could be. Being a musician and loving every card game since I was a kid, this board game was made for me. The Bard would be the hero fighting other bards for fame and fortune. In my eyes, is there anything more refreshing than that? So I was instantly bought in, and Keyan was obviously in, so we looked at ourselves and said, “We have to make this!” I wish I were kidding in saying we spent months and months sketching what Card Bard looked like. For a brief minute, it was going to be set in the future – because Bards were going to be a thing again in the future?

One day Keyan said, “all of these ideas are great, but I think we need to understand the world of Card Bard before anything else”. He was right – if he never said that my brain would still be going wild with ideas. So to make a long story short, we created some ground rules:

• All significant mechanics had to be three or divisible by three. Bards would probably play in 3/4 musical timing and the rule of three.

• Card names and mechanics had to be tied to real-life musical principles, puns off of song or band names, or tales we would like to flesh out in the Card Bard universe.

• Everything had to feel goofy or whimsical.

Though we are still fleshing out the lore of Card Bard, these simple rules helped us create 100+ cards.

Don’t get hung up on your board game’s mechanics

After you create three to four thematic rules that your board game will live by, start writing card names, NOT MECHANICS. Let your brain go wild write down the most off the wall names at this point; nothing is off the table. Keyan and I created a shared Google Sheets document and just wrote down a bunch of names. This exercise not only helped us narrow down on what Card Bard is thematically, but it pretty much wrote the mechanics for us. Next, think about each of the card names. Just thinking of what that card would do in your world jogs the brain on how the real world mechanic should be.

From there, it’s pretty much a cakewalk (for real). I mean, if it works for the Magic the Gathering team, it should work for us, right? Just watch:

START CREATING NOW

Now is the time to create a new board game! Resources and manufacturing are cheaper than ever, and with sites like Kickstarter, there is a relatively minor investment on your end. It seems overwhelming, and it can be. There are no written rules on how a board game should be made; it’s a work of art, and art is subjective. There have been times where we wanted to throw in the towel, getting overwhelmed with questions that we never thought of (e.g., How are we going to get our manufactured card game from China to Texas?). But being overwhelmed is a setback that you will overcome with time. You set the deadlines, so be patient and take your time. Designing and playing board games is a hobby and a community. So if you ever have any questions, write to us, and we will help you out the best we can!